Share stats, chat and play online matches via PlayStation Network, and upload your own face into the game using the front camera.

Wear your ace face

How does swapping your daily commute to school or work for a sun-kissed journey to global superstardom sound? With Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour on PlayStation Vita, you can find out whenever and wherever you like.

Play pin-sharp volleys in the south of France, wow the crowds on a luxury cruise liner and meet your fans in charity events. For an up-and-coming tennis sensation, the opportunities are endless – and the sun never seems to stop shining.

As you step onto lush green grass courts, electric blue indoor courts or vivid orange clay courts, you’ll notice your name lit up on the scoreboard as the cheering swells. By using either the front or rear camera of your PS Vita system, you can take a photograph of your own face and add it to your customised player in a few simple steps. It makes being able to imagine yourself hitting winners in a glamorous tournament even easier.

Some of the world’s biggest tennis talent, including Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki, Novak Djokovic and Venus Williams – not to mention a selection of unlockable legends – will be rubbing shoulders with you, so you’d better hit the practice court to make sure you’re at your best.

Fingertip tennis

Your fingers could give you the edge that separates the great from the good in Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour on PS Vita. By sliding your finger across the touchscreen, you will set the power and direction of your shot – watch to see where your rival is headed and try to wrong-foot them by smashing a powerful volley as close to the baseline as you dare.

Hitting certain shots will fill your concentration gauge, which gives you two benefits. First, your ability to hit fast, accurate shots on the move improves once the bar passes the halfway point; second, you’ll be able to unleash an almost unstoppable Super Shot when the meter is filled by sliding two fingers across the touchscreen.

Bamboozle your opponent with a mixture of swerving and sliced shots to keep them off balance, and use your unpredictability to make a name for yourself in World Tour mode. As you rack up the air miles between tournaments, you’ll be invited to exhibition matches against the biggest names, quirky training events and glitzy charity functions, all of which boost your Star Rating and launch you to the dizzy heights of tennis superstardom.

Touching distance

You might think travelling around the globe perfecting your tennis game is a lonely pursuit, but thanks to the online features of Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour, you never know when you’ll next run into a familiar face.

In World Tour mode, your friends can drop in on you via PlayStation Network and leave you messages of encouragement – or playful needling – as you make your way around the tennis circuit. You can share stats too, which helps spur you on to refine your game.

Challenge your friends to do their talking out on the court in Network mode, either online via PlayStation Network or by creating an Ad Hoc Room, which lets you take on nearby friends in quick-fire thrillers or five-set marathons. And just so you can call upon crucial evidence when it comes to bragging rights, all of your stats are recorded in special online leader boards.

Alternatively, why not look into the whites of your rival’s eyes as you limber up on the court? In Touch Versus mode, you’ll be able to do just that. The game switches to a top-down perspective, with shots and movement controlled at opposing ends via the touchscreen. That way, when you slam a rocket of a return past your opponent, you can see the crunching impact it has at first hand.